Man in Virginia charged with tossing voter applications worked for vendor under investigation in Florida

A contractor hired by the Republican Party
of Virginia -- and who had worked for a company now under investigation in Florida for voter
registration fraud -- was arrested Thursday after allegedly trashing
application forms.

Colin Small, 31,
(left) was charged with 13 felony and misdemeanor counts for throwing voter
registration forms into a dumpster, according to a news release by the Rockingham
County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia.

The sheriff's office stated that Small was a
“voter registration supervisor” working for Pinpoint, a firm hired by the
Republican Party of Virginia to register voters. In Virginia, the registration deadline is
Monday. It's not clear why Small threw the forms out. Unlike Florida,
party affiliation is not included on Virginia
applications. It is illegal, however, to throw out completed forms in both
states.

According to the report, on Monday someone
saw Small throw the applications out. The witness then retrieved them, wrote
down his license plate, and contacted the Rockingham County Sheriff's
Office.

"There is no indication that this
activity is widespread in our jurisdiction," the report stated. "It
appears to be very limited in nature but there is the possibility that
additional charges may be filed in the future if it is deemed
appropriate."

The case has ramifications here in Florida
and elsewhere, however, because Pinpoint had been a subcontractor for Strategic Allied Consulting, a private firm
that had been the only firm the Republican National Committee had tapped to register
voters -- until reports emerged last monththat employees
had been filing fraudulent applications. Representatives with the firm said
they fired two employees who had turned in fraudulent forms in Lee and Palm Beach counties.
Officials with SAC couldn't be reached Friday.

The Republican Party of Florida fired the
Strategic Allied Consulting, as did other states, including Virginia, Colorado
and North Carolina, all swing states where the firm was registering voters. In Florida, the case is now being investigated by the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, which is reviewing reports of fraudulent forms in a dozen
counties.

It's not clear if Pinpoint had worked in Florida. Brian Burgess,
spokesman for the Republican Party of Florida, said Friday he would check.

"This isn't about partisan politics,
it's about integrity in our elections," said Brian Moran, the chairman of
the Democratic Party of Virginia. "Given their rhetoric about eliminating
voter fraud, Republicans should welcome an investigation to prove that these
disturbing incidents are isolated and not a central feature of the GOP campaign
effort this year."

Pat
Mullins, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said in a statement that
the case was isolated.

"The actions taken by this individual
are a direct contradiction of both his training and explicit instructions given
to him," the statement said. "The Republican Party of Virginia will
not tolerate any action by any person that could threaten the integrity of our
electoral process."